The Things I've Lost
by MaskyLovesCake
Summary: He lost his mother, but upon contemplation on the subject, he realized he's lost much more.


The four of us had all slept in the same two beds side by side every single night for as long as I'd lived, and I never thought that would change.

I was, however, dreadfully wrong. What was once a peaceful life for my family is now a tale filled with pain.

On a trip to my grandfather's house up on Mount Oriander, my mother, my brother, and I had quite a lot of fun, despite my father not being able to come with us. However... the trip ended on a very, very low note. My mother had gone outside, and while she was out there, I... I thought I heard something coming from above. But I didn't think anything of it, since the only things I'd ever seen in the sky were the sun, clouds, and birds, and none of those made any noise that I could hear from the ground. I thought it had been in my head, so I pushed the thought as far back into my mind as it could go.

The noises only got worse when we were on our way back to Tazmily Village. They were faint, but I could hear them coming from the direction we were headed. I thought I had been the only one, but my brother nudged me on the shoulder, asking if I'd heard the noises. Then our mother bolted forward in the direction they'd come from, seemingly knowing what the noises were. We instinctively followed.

Everything happened so quick that I sometimes struggle to think about what really had happened. The forest had been on fire, there was a giant creature. It looked very much like a drago, something we knew too well. But it was also different from a drago. Just the sight made me fall to the ground as I slowly backed away.

I looked to my brother, and he looked at me. We were both trembling. "I-It's just a drago, isn't it? A friendly, fun-loving drago?" he asked. His voice was wavering and even he looked terrified.

As it began to slowly creep towards us with earth-rattling steps, our mother turned to us and turned back to the strange-looking drago. "Lucas, Claus... that thing isn't a drago anymore. That is not a gentle creature, but a creature of destruction," she told us calmly. "I want you boys to run away from here and find a safe place to hide, okay?" she asked us, but we both knew it was a demand.

I didn't even have time to stand back up before Claus had me by the arm, tugging me along with him as he ran in a totally different direction. I looked back at the scene, and our mother was looking back at us. She had a pained look on her face but for some reason, I could see a smile amidst it all. It was a sight I didn't understand, but it made my eyes begin to tear up.

It wasn't until a few moments later that my brother suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. There was a blood-curdling scream that filled the air around us. I saw some birds flying and some animals scattering. He turned back before he quickly started off again, not giving me a chance to do the same. "That was Mom!" I cried out to him. "We have to help Mom, Claus. Let's go back..." I pleaded to him.

He didn't even waver. "Lucas, we can't go back. I saw Mom lying on the ground, and her chest... Something was in her chest. Her pink dress had red all over it. I think... Mom's dead now, Lucas..." he explained, emotion overwhelming his voice. He never stopped. I didn't speak after that, since I was still trying to register with what he had just told me. It just absolutely couldn't be true.

Suddenly, there was a roar and I could feel the earth shaking again, so I pushed Claus to run faster. This seemed to surprise him, since I'd been so eager to go back for our mother. I didn't really notice the change. At that time, I was the most concerned with getting out of there as safely as possible with my brother.

We stopped at the edge if a cliff, only then realizing we'd gone backwards from the forest. Claus looked down and squeezed my hand. I could hear him gulp before he exhaled a breath. "Lucas, we have to jump. There's water below us, so we won't get many injuries. The fall is fairly short too. On my mark, we'll dash and then jump, alright?" he asked, our eyes staring deeply into each other.

I gave a nod. "This is crazy, Claus, but... whenever you're ready," I replied, looking down at the water.

He nodded. He crouched forward and began counting backwards from five. When he got to one he bolted, taking me along with him as he dashed and then jumped off of the edge, toward the water below. "Get ready to hold your breath!" he called to me. I did so mere moments before we plummeted into the water.

I was not ready for the sheer force of the current that had welcomed us following our fall. Before the two of us had even resurfaced, our linked hands were separated. With my limited vision under the water, I watched my brother drift farther away and tried to grasp at any part of him so that he would still be with me. I was unsuccessful.

I resurfaced and took in a big gasp of air. Claus was still in my line of vision, so I relaxed a bit. As long as we went the same way, we'd be safe. I made an attempt to swim, but I stopped almost instantly when I realized just how much the cold water had numbed my body in such a short time.

I'm not sure how long we were in the water, but we were eventually pulled out of the water by some of the other villagers. Our teeth were chattering and our bodies were shivering. They helped us out of our soaked clothes and wrapped us in some blankets. A fire was started to keep us warm and we huddled by it. They asked us what had happened, but we couldn't speak.

Our father came just mere minutes afterward. He seemed a bit flustered, but I couldn't blame him. The forest was on fire and his wife and children had not yet come home. He must have been fearing the worst.

He approached us and stood in between us, a hand on my shoulder and one on my brother's. We both looked at him, each one trying to speak. I couldn't even tell which one of us had said something, but one of us did. "D-Dad... It's Mom. She's..." but that was all that either of us could muster. We choked on our attempts to speak and just couldn't bear to tell him the news.

But someone did tell him. It was Bronson. He explained that he'd found our mother's body with a drago fang pierced deep into her heart. The news made me choke down my sobs. Our father didn't take the news well either, and Tessie had to cover our view of his actions. I could still see glimpses. It made me want to cry even more to see him like that.

They put him in the jail that night. We overheard someone saying that it was surprising they finally were going to use the jail. It'd never been used.

The funeral was the next day, and it had to be the hardest thing anyone could sit through. I stared at my red-haired brother Claus. All night he'd mumbled in his sleep about avenging our mother and protecting the family he had left. I hadn't been able to sleep much with that going on. I was too worried about Claus. And Dad.

Claus hid a hand behind his back. "Lucas, I'm going to do it," he stated rather suddenly. He must have known my eyes were on him.

"Do what?" I asked him. I feared the answer he would give me, and got what I'd feared.

"I'm going to protect you guys. You, Dad, everyone. I'm going to kill that... thing. I'm going to make it pay for what it did to Mom," Claus stated, clenching his fist.

I shook my head. "Claus... you can't. You'll be killed!" I exclaimed.

Our grandfather looked at us strangely. "What are you two talking about?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Claus clapped a hand over my mouth. He held out what he'd been hiding behind his back. "I'm going to go visit Dad in the jail and give him this apple. I figured he must be hungry," he said.

Our grandfather nodded. "I suppose you can do that. I'm sure you won't be... killed over that," he said.

Claus grinned. "Yeah, I guess Lucas is just a little paranoid. I promise I'll come right back." With that, he took off and I couldn't bring myself to chase after him. From inside his pocket, I could see a knife. One of the ones from our house.

I turned back to the grave and decided that I'd go looking for Claus after the funeral.

That was three years ago.

Now it's just me and my father, who's hardly ever home anymore. He's still looking for Claus. I feel like he still blames me for what happened. I could have stopped my brother from leaving, but I was too scared.

Sometimes I feel like my mother isn't the only one I've lost. Claus was missing the moment she died. His change had been nearly instantaneous. The brother of known my whole life had been taken from me and replaced with a lookalike. Even my father was different. Everything changed. My family and the village and its people were all different. They'd all been taken from me. They were all lost.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and hurried out the door so I could start my day. I didn't know what I'd do, but I was sure it was better than just sitting on the bed and thinking about all the mistakes I've made.


End file.
